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In the early days of the current console generation, a trend began which still continues to this
day. It started simply enough, the centrepiece being a dilapidated, or destroyed world. Both
as a player and as the main character, you're thrust into this entirely foregin landscape.
The society you're familiar with is gone, and the only rule that matters, is do what
you must to survive. This is the description of many games in essence,
but only a handful published in recent history should come to mind, epically at the utterance
of the word, Wasteland. No matter what game it brings to mind the fact is, for years now
gamers have been navigating the trash piles of societies that has long since seen their
fall. We're escaping into a different wasteland every year, but where did it begin? When did
the trend, and out recent love for the wasteland start?
It began back in August of 2007, with the release of BioShock. This may not seem like
the right game to start with, but it stands as the precursor. It introduced the environment,
and gameplay, that wasteland games all feature to some degree today. BioShock takes place
in a city called Rapture; Which was built in the 1950s under the Atlantic Ocean, but
was half destroyed due to a civil war that occurred before your arrival. It combined
traditional FPS mechanics with light RPG style augmentations. The game was a smash success,
and most importantly it left an enormous impression on gamers everywhere. BioShock ended up functioning
like a warm-up, getting people used to seeing a 1950s world that had been torn apart. And
the game that benefited from this warm up is represented by a phrase we've all come
to know and love.
It was on October 28, 2008 that the real wasteland experience began, with the release of Fallout
3. You play as an outcast of an underground fallout shelter known as a vault. Outside
are the post nuclear ruins of Washington DC and it's surrounding areas. The world is permeated
with 1950 nostalgia, and even though the game is an RPG at heart, it plays much like a first
person shooter. Thus is the reason why Fallout 3 played off the prior success of BioShock.
Both games have 1950s nostalgia, take place in an environment that was destroyed, and
play as a mix of both FPS and RPG. The only thing that Fallout 3 did new in establishing
the trend , was bring an open world to the table in the form of a wasteland. The result
was another smash success, and gamers everywhere found themselves combing through trash piles
for another holiday season. This is where it should have ended. Games featuring a wasteland
are uncommon, so seeing another one that could carry the weight of what BioShock and Fallout
3 had started, was terribly unlikely. And yet, that game came.
During late October of 2009, a small game was released featuring, you guessed it, a
wasteland. It was a first person shooter, which bore a striking resemblance to Fallout
3. The game was called borderlands. With it's release the wasteland officially became a
trend, and was no longer a fleeting environment to be seen only once every few years. In the
game you play as a treasure hunter searching for a fabled vault on the desert planet of
Pandora. The game plays as an FPS, but is heavily injected with RPG elements. On all
accounts Borderlands was a game put together well enough to be moderately successful if
nothing more. However, because gamers coming into a new holiday season already having high
opinions of adventures in the wasteland; Borderlands inadvertently ended becoming the new seasonal
game to carry the torch. Once again for another year gamers could toil away with another great
wasteland experience. When it came time for Borderlands to pass the torch off though,
it was given to the most appropriate game possible.
On October 19, 2010 the wasteland returned to it's post apocalyptic roots with the release
of Fallout: New Vegas. While it was mostly just like Fallout 3 several massive gameplay
improvements were implemented. As a result New Vegas moved fallout several steps closer
to resembling an FPS, even though it was still clearly an RPG at heart. As for the story
your status as a vault outcast was traded for that of a courier lucky enough to survive
being shot in the face. Even though New Vegas was still enormously successful it was met
with some mixed feelings. Many of them stemming from the largest thing New Vegas brought to
the table for the wasteland experience, a rebuilt society. No matter the changes and
their reception, the game still took place in a wasteland, and fuelled many player's
insatiable apatites for post apocalyptic antics. This is where things set today. However, the
holiday is drawing ever closer once again, and it's already been decided which game will
receive the wasteland torch.
In early October of 2011 the next game to drop you into the twisted wreckage of the
post apocalyptic earth will be released, Rage. You play as the soul survivor of an ark, a
large device that was buried underground to save humanity from the horrors caused by the
Aphophis meteorite that hit the earth one-hundred years earlier. Even though it's been described
as a FPS at heart, light RPG elements appear including weapon customization, and special
ammo types. The environment is varied as well with mutant infested city ruins, sewers overrun
with bandits, professionally defended military installations, and large vehicle combat areas
in between making up the world space. Only time will tell if Rage will live up to it's
promises, and carry the wasteland torch properly. To be certain though, Rage is a game to be
on the look out for. Especially for those of you who love the wasteland.
BioShock, Fallout 3, Borderlands, New Vegas, and now Rage; That's where the wasteland started,
has been, and is going. As it stand there's only one question left. What does the future
hold for the wasteland? Will it end with the release of Rage, or will it continue to prosper
for many year to come? Maybe the wasteland will end up merging into another game trend.
No one knows, but what do you think? I've said a lot here, and you probably have more
than one opinion by now. So do me a favour and hit the comments, put your own ideas out
in the open. Until next time this has been a video blog
by William Strife for B-1-0-G dot net July 18, 2011.
Strife Out.